1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to parking brakes, known also as emergency brakes, and more specifically to a parking brake mechanism particularly well adapted for use on motorcycles or two-wheeled automotive vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mechanical transmissions or gearboxes included in motorcycle power trains can be made to function as parking brake by being shifted to a particular gear setting on parking. For parking with the engine idling, however, motorcycles of this type require an exclusive parking brake mechanism. The need for a parking brake is, however, more pronounced in motorcycles with automatic transmissions including a hydrodynamic drive unit, because these transmissions do not lend themselves for use as parking brake.
In view of the foregoing there has been suggested a parking brake mechanism wherein a retractable motorcycle stand is mechanically related to the rear brake pedal so that this pedal may be depressed automatically to apply the rear brake when the stand is moved from its retracted to working position on parking (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 49-46109).
According to this prior art parking brake mechanism, the motorcycle is held braked as long as the stand stays in its working position. This is inconvenient because it is customary among motorcyclists to move the vehicle, by their own physical effort, short distances from its temporarily parked location with the stand left in the working position.